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Methylphenidate decreases the EEG mu power in the right primary motor cortex in healthy adults during motor imagery and execution

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Abstract

This study investigated the effects of dopaminergic drugs on the EEG mu power during motor imagery, action observation, and execution. This is a double-blind, crossover study with a sample of 15 healthy adults under placebo vs. methylphenidate vs. risperidone conditions during motor imagery, action observation, and execution tasks. The participants had drug dosage adjustment based on body weight/dose (mg/kg). We also analyzed the mu band power by electroencephalography during the study steps. The main result is the interaction between the condition and task factors for the C3 and C4 electrodes, with decreasing EEG mu power in the methylphenidate when compared to risperidone (p ≤ 0.0083). Our results can indicate that the methylphenidate decreases the neurophysiological activity in the central cortical regions during the perceptual experience of tasks with or without body movement.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Zil-English and Carla Ayres for the manuscript review.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Brain Mapping and Sensory Motor Integration Laboratory, Institute of Psychiatry of Federal, University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Danielle Aprigio, Mariana Gongora, Mauricio Cagy & Pedro Ribeiro

  2. Neurophysiology and Neuropsychology of Attention Laboratory, Institute of Psychiatry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Danielle Aprigio, Juliana Bittencourt & Bruna Velasques

  3. Institute of Applied Neuroscience, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Danielle Aprigio, Juliana Bittencourt, Mariana Gongora, Pedro Ribeiro & Bruna Velasques

  4. Veiga de Almeida University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Juliana Bittencourt

  5. The Northeast Biotechnology Network (RENORBIO), Federal University of Piauí, Teresina, Brazil

    Victor Marinho, Silmar Teixeira & Victor Hugo Bastos

  6. Federal University of Delta Do Parnaíba, Av. São Sebastião nº2819, Nossa Sra. de Fátima, Parnaíba, Piauí, 64202-020, Brazil

    Victor Marinho, Silmar Teixeira, Victor Hugo Bastos & Pedro Ribeiro

  7. Biomedical Engineering Program, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Mauricio Cagy

  8. Faculty of Human Sciences, Medical School Hamburg, Sport Science, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Henning Budde

  9. Lithuanian Sports University, Kaunas, Lithuania

    Henning Budde

  10. Bioscience Department, School of Physical Education of Federal, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Pedro Ribeiro & Bruna Velasques

  11. Division of Neurosurgery, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil

    Luis Fernando Basile

Authors
  1. Danielle Aprigio
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  2. Juliana Bittencourt
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  4. Victor Marinho
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  5. Silmar Teixeira
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  6. Victor Hugo Bastos
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  7. Mauricio Cagy
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  8. Henning Budde
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  9. Pedro Ribeiro
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  10. Luis Fernando Basile
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  11. Bruna Velasques
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Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: DA, JB, VM, MG, PR, and BV. Performed the experiments: DA, JB, MG, and BV. Analyzed the data: DA, VM, and BV. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: VHB, VM, ST, MC, HB, PR, LFB, and BV. Wrote the paper: DA, VM, PR, and BV. Headed the analysis: DA, VM, PR, and BV.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victor Marinho.

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All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were approved by the institutional and/or national research committee's ethical standards and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Aprigio, D., Bittencourt, J., Gongora, M. et al. Methylphenidate decreases the EEG mu power in the right primary motor cortex in healthy adults during motor imagery and execution. Brain Struct Funct 226, 1185–1193 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-021-02233-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-021-02233-8

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